Eating the Onion

Recently there has been speculation about the true identity of one halfir, the Lord of All Lore Things. A common theoryin recent days/weeks has been that halfir is Tom Bombadil (and perhaps also the Witch-king of Angmar by extension). However, while reading through a now-archived thread, the truth came out.

If Tolkien is Illuvatar then Halfir is Manwe.

He knew not how true you spoke. Well, maybe he did, but that’s beside the point. Because now, for the first time ever, many questions will be answered, enigmas will be broken, and ancient secrets unlocked.

Yes, the greatest mystery of the Plaza, the true identity of halfir has now been solved. He is none other than Manwe himself! How could any mere mortal know so much as the AL-mighty halfir? Answer: they couldn’t! There is more to the story though.

The aforementioned quote from the Archives is partially right. halfir is Manwe, this will be proven in this thread beyond all doubt. Tolkien however, was not Iluvatar. He told us that himself in Letter #246:

The Other Power then took over: the Writer of the Story (by which I do not mean myself), ‘that one ever-present Person who is never absent and never named’

Therefore, who or what was Tolkien? Some have theorized that he was Tom Bombadil, but this is impossible, as Bombadil was the Witch-king, and the Witch-king was rendered impotent before the end of the Third Age. Tolkien knew of the Third Age, and the Elder Days, and even Iluvatar. He must have therefore been immortal. But what? He doesn’t seem to fit into any mould.

The answer is as simple as it is elegant. Tolkien fits into one mould that he only ever alluded to (and he did this for a reason). Tolkien was a blue wizard. This explains his knowledge of Iluvatar and the Elder Days, and why he told us so little about these characters that (according to HoMe XII) played a vital role in Middle-earth. This last was done to avoid suspicion.

Back to halfir. “Tolkien” says the following in Letter #200:

Knowledge of the Story as it was when composed (…) varied very much, from the fairly complete knowledge of the mind of the Creator in this matter possessed by Manwe, the ‘Elder King’, to that of lesser spirits.

“Knowledge of the Story”, “fairly complete”, these are the hallmarks of halfir. Coincidence? I think not. Now some may call the case complete here. I do not. There is one more piece of evidence I have yet to bring forth, from UT, The Istari:

It was believed by many of the “Faithful” of that time that “Gandalf” was the last appearance of Manwe himself, before his final withdrawal to the watchtower of Taniquetil.

This clearly cannot be the case. However, Manwe did have one final appearance. The possibility existed, and “Tolkien” the Blue Wizard did not know enough to fully refute it.

In summary, I have proven beyond any reasonable doubt that halfir is Manwe the Elder King of Arda, and that J.R.R. Tolkien is a Blue Wizard. (I use “is” since he is immortal, clearly “Tolkien” now has another incarnation. Or perhaps he finally passed Ovesea.) halfir is the final appearance of Manwe, come to teach the world what it needs to know to be ready for the Dagor Dagorath.